The present invention relates to an apparatus for packing connector plates or the like.
The connector plates are manufactured for example so that rectangular shaped plates are separated from a metal blank, in which teeth are formed by stamping acute-pointed triangular parts to be bent to a substantially perpendicular position with respect to the plates, whereby the finished connector plates comprise several parallel rows of teeth. The teeth can also be formed in a continuous band-like metal blank, wherefrom the individual plates are separated by cutting. Connector plates and manufacturing methods thereof are shown for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,527,933 and 3,479,919.
After the manufacturing process, the connector plates travel to a station where the plates are stacked in a uniform orientation, e.g., so that the teeth point upwards. The finished connector plates are packed, depending on the manner they are finally used, as a stack either so that the teeth in the package extend in the same direction, or most preferably so that the connector plates are formed into nested pairs, where the teeth of the connector plates lie opposite to each other and the teeth are intermeshed with those of the other plate. In the latter case, it is necessary to turn preferably every other connector plate upside down, i.e. so that the teeth project downward, before the packing step to form the above-mentioned pairs of connector plates. The turning can be performed either manually or in an automated manner, depending on the size, manufacturing speed or amount of the connector plates.
In known automatic solutions for turning the connector plates to form the pairs, belt conveyors or the like are usually used between the manufacturing step and packing step. In a known technical solution the conveyors, which usually are two or more in number, always an even number, lie in parallel. On one of the conveyors of a pair the connector plates are introduced for conveying them unturned to the stacking station which is located before the packing step, and the connector plates which are to be turned are introduced on the other one for conveying them to a location where they are turned over. More specifically, the latter of said conveyors conveys the connector plates to the end, where a swinging arm, pivotable in a plane perpendicular to the transfer direction of the conveyors, turns the connector plate along a semi-circular path downward on top of a connector plate that has entered the stacking station through the end of the first conveyor. The turned and unturned connector plates are arranged to enter the stacking station alternately, whereby they are automatically formed into above-described nested pairs of connector plates.
Manual turning and stacking of connector plates is slow and increases the production costs of connector plates and is not therefore suitable for a manufacturing process of large capacity. Known automated solutions require considerable floor area both longitudinally and laterally because of parallel conveyors and further away from the conveyors requires the use of additional devices and/or manual operation. The swinging arm of a known apparatus for turning the connector plates requires a long path of movement and return movement, which decreases the handling capacity. A similar approach is represented by German Patent No. 32-37-255 showing an apparatus for stacking grid plates coming along two parallel lines.